1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a method for controlling upgrade of software in an electronic device, and particularly relates to a method for controlling upgrade of firmware of an electronic device, such as a computer, in an intelligent, self-protective manner.
2. Related Art
Firmware is a key component in an electronic device, such as a computer, that stores program and data in a read only memory of the device, which is unchangeable under user operations.
An electronic device, especially an information processing device, is usually found of insufficient functions or “bugs” that require to be upgraded or corrected after being made and sold. The firmware that stores the operational software and data then has to be upgraded. It has been a trend that manufacturers provide firmware upgrade means for improving the functions of a device, lengthening its usage lifetime and saving user's investment. However, the firmware upgrade encounters two conflicted demands. First, the firmware should be well protected that cannot be easily modified and caused of system failure. Second, the firmware has to be easily upgraded so as to improve or remedy the performance or function of the device.
Therefore, when upgrading a firmware, the operator has to be very careful. Otherwise, a wrong operation or wrong version of firmware may cause a serious result to the device such as total malfunction of the system. However, conventional process of firmware upgrade does not provide any controlling or preventive mechanism to avoid the danger so that the device is easily damaged by a false upgrade of firmware.